Why You Should Use A Real Estate Agent When Selling Your Home

1. Choose The Ideal Listing Price

A qualified real estate agent can help you choose the right price for listing your home based on what is currently happening in the local market. By looking up comparable sales in your area, they can help you decide on a price for your property that will allow you to maximize your earnings while still making a quick sale.

2. Show Your Home In The Best Possible Light

A good realtor can help prospective buyers see the potential in your home. Anytime someone visits your property, your real estate agent will be there to answer their questions and to point out unique features. They also will hold open houses or other events that are designed to draw in interested buyers.

3. Reach More Prospective Buyers

One of the key factors to consider when deciding on a real estate agent is how they plan on marketing your home. The best agents are the ones who have well-developed marketing techniques that get good results. Typically, a good marketing campaign should involve three basic steps: showcasing your property online, promoting it in your local area through the use of open houses, and advertising your property on social media. The best realtors will even capture drone footage of your property, helping it stand out in your online listings.

4. Get More Money From The Sale Of Your Home

Real estate agents are specially trained in the art of negotiation. If a buyer comes to you with a relatively low offer, they will do their best to get more money out of the deal for you. They also will work hard to get buyers involved in bidding wars, which can dramatically increase the selling price of the home. One of the ways that they accomplish this is by marketing your property to multiple buyers so that it gets as much exposure as possible.

5. Negotiating Any Repairs Or Other Issues Before The Sale

When people buy a home, they usually pay for an inspection. After all, they are often spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the property. It is no wonder they want to make sure it is in good shape. During the inspection, issues may be discovered with the home. For instance, there might be foundation damage that has to be repaired. When problems like these are found during the inspection, the buyer will often want them repaired before the sale goes through. Your real estate agent can help negotiate the terms of the contract to include this type of information.

6. Enjoy Faster Closing Times

By preparing the paperwork as quickly as possible after an offer comes in, your real estate agent can help speed up the closing process. Waiting for a real estate deal to close can feel like it takes an eternity. With a good agent, however, the process can be completed a lot faster so that you can get on with your life again. Your realtor will also provide you with updates along the way so that you always know what is happening at any given time in the closing process.

7. More Eyes On Your Property

When you work with a real estate agent, your property gets listed on the multiple listing service (MLS). This is a large database of homes for sale throughout the country. Having your house listed in this database is extremely important in terms of exposure. Not only does it allow other realtors to view your property but also people who are searching for homes online. The more eyes you can get on your property, the more likely you are to make a quick sale. You may even be lucky enough to get multiple people trying to buy your home, in which case the competing offers could drive up the sale price.

Real Estate Agent Guide: Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Home

If you are selling your home, you might be surprised at how time-consuming and emotionally challenging this can be. There are strangers who will come to your home and poke around every corner. They will be critical of the property which has become more than just 4 walls for you. They will also offer you less than you want for the property in most cases,

When you have no experience selling your home, you can make a lot of mistakes during this process. Fortunately, you will be able to avoid a lot of these mistakes once you know about them. When you avoid these mistakes, you will have a better chance of getting the highest possible price for your home in a reasonable amount of time.

Being Too Emotionally Involved

When you decide to sell your home, you need to change your view of the property and think of yourself as a seller and not the owner. When you look at this transaction in a purely financial manner, you will be able to distance yourself emotionally. This is important, particularly if you have lived in the property for many years and have created a lot of memories there.

It is also important to remember how you felt when you were shopping for the home. Most potential buyers are going to be in an emotional state and you need to consider that you are selling them more than a building. You are selling them an image, a dream, and a lifestyle. When you look at it this way, you are more likely to put extra effort into staging and remodeling to get the best price. These little changes in the appearance of your property will not only positively impact the sale price, but it will also help with emotional distance as it changes the appearance of the property.

Not Hiring A Real Estate Agent

Working with an agent does come with their commission which is generally 5% to 6% of the sale price, but you should work with one if you are selling your home for the first time. A good agent can offer you a range of services including the setting of a fair and competitive sale price. Working with an agent will also reduce the emotions you feel during the transactions because they will interact with the buyers instead of you. The agent will also reduce the number of potential buyers who want to look at the house, but have no intention of buying.

Find A Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents will also have more experience with negotiations. This will help you get a better price for your property and iron out any potential problems you can face. Agents are also familiar with all of the paperwork required in this process and the potential problems that can occur once the sale process is underway.

Minimizing What A Real Estate Agent Does

There are people who sell their homes without a Realtor. While this is possible, there is a lot that an agent will do that you might not be aware of. When you do this, you have to research the properties sold in your area, determine what an attractive sale price is and deal with all of the potential buyers.

You will also be responsible for the marketing of the house and you need to ensure you make it onto the Multiple Listing Service for your area. This will ensure that you reach the largest possible number of buyers. Doing all of this can be very stressful and will be very time-consuming.

If you are going to avoid working with an agent, you will have to hire a real estate attorney to help with the finer legal points of the transaction and handle the escrow process. Selling your home yourself can save you money even when you take the attorney fees into account. However, if the buyer has a real estate agent, they will expect compensated and this is generally covered by the seller. This compensation will be between 1% and 3% of the sale price.

Setting An Unrealistic Price

Whether you have hired a Realtor or not, you need to set the right asking price. A comparable market analysis will need to be done by the real estate agent or your which will determine the sale price for similar homes in your area. This is an analysis that potential buyers are going to do as well and you need to be one step ahead of them.

Overprice houses are not going to sell unless there is a housing bubble. This does not mean that you should be setting a price on the lower side to ensure a sale. While this can generate a lot of offers, you will be listing your property below the market value. Undervaluing your property will generate interest and you are able to refuse offers that are too low so you should not worry too much about this, hire a Realtor.

Expecting The Asking Price

Any smart buyer is going to negotiate and if you want to sell your home, you generally have to play ball. This means that you should list your home at a price that attracts buyers, but still leaves breathing room for negotiations. This is why many people are nervous about under-pricing their home from the start. When you price the house attractively with some breathing room, you can allow the buyer to feel that they are getting a good deal when you take a lower offer.

Of course, this does mean that you are not getting the asking price. Regardless of the pricing strategy you use, you are unlikely to get the asking price for the property. The price you get will depend on the market conditions and how well you have staged and modernized the property.

Selling During Winter

Home sales will generally slow in the winter, particularly around the holidays. During these times, potential buyers are going to be busy with social engagement and the cold weather makes people want to stay at home. As there are fewer buyers out, you are likely to take longer to sell your home. While this is a good case for not selling, you could have fewer competing sellers which can work to your advantage.

Skimping On The Listing Photos

Most potential buyers will start their search online and a lot of home listings will have photos. If you do not have any photos you are placing yourself at a disadvantage. While you need photos, you do not want to have poor quality photos because this will also damage your chances of standing out for the right reasons.

Good photos for the listing should be clear and crisp. They need to be taken during the day when you have a lot of natural light in the house. You also need to showcase all of the assets our home as to offer. Using a wide-angle lens is also recommended as it gives a fuller view of the rooms. Ideally, you should look at hiring a professional inside of letting your Realtor take the pictures and consider adding a 360-degree view or video tour to the listing.

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Have Having Proper Insurance

Your mortgage lender may need you to get homeowner’s insurance, but if not, you should look at getting this anyway. The insurance will protect you if a potential buyer has an accident in the house and sues you for damages. You should also ensure that there are no obvious hazards on the property. If there are hazards, you should take steps to mitigate them such as keeping children of potential buyers from the pool and get your dogs out of the house during the showings.

Hiding Any Major Problems

Any problems with your property will be uncovered in the inspection done by the buyer and there is no reason to hide this. You should either fix the problem before you sell or take the problem into account when you value your home. You can also list your home at the normal price, but offer credit to the buyer to fix the problem.

It is important to note that when you do not fix the problem before sale, you are going to eliminate a lot of potential buyers. Having a home inspection done before you list is a good idea as it will prevent you from being blindsided once the house is under contract. There are also many states with disclosure rules where you have to legally tell the potential buyer any known problems if they ask. There are other states where sellers have to voluntarily disclose certain problems.

Not Preparing For The Sale

If you do not clean and stage your home, you are going to be wasting time and money. If you cannot hire a professional to help with this, there are certain things that you can do on your own. When you do not take these steps you will lower the selling price and could delay the sale completely. One of the steps that you can take is to replace any broken doorknobs. Not taking care of this can lead potential buyers to wonder if there are larger problems that have not been addressed.

It is recommended that you have an agent or fiend point out the areas that need work because they have fresh eyes. The familiarity you have with your home makes you immune to some of the trouble spots. Cleaning, decluttering and putting fresh paint on the walls will help you make a good impression on potential buyers.

Not Accommodating Your Potential Buyers

If there is someone who wants to view your home, you need to accommodate them even when it is inconvenient for you. It is also important that you clean and tidy your home before each viewing. A buyer does not care that your home was cleaned the week before. While this can be a lot of work, it will help you achieve your sale goals.

Selling To Unqualified Buyers

it is completely reasonable to expect a potential buyer to have a pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender or other proof of funding. You need to have proof that they can afford to buy your home. When you sign a contract that is reliant on the buyer selling their property, you can have a serious issue if you need to close by a certain date.

While these are some of the most common mistakes that people make when selling their home, it is possible that you will never make any of them. However, knowing what these mistakes are is important to ensure that you do avoid them. It is always important to prepare both mentally and financially for any less than ideal situations such as your home sitting on the market for longer than you expect. If you are unable to find a buyer, you could have to rent the house or pay two mortgages until you can sell. If you avoid these common mistakes, you will be putting your best foot forward and increase the chances of a successful sale.